Pritish Dey Sarkar

Power of the Sun

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Introductory video link:

The main intended users of the tool which I have developed are the Architects. The broad objective of the tool is to maximize the total solar insolation with minimizing the total cost.

The inputs are:

1) The base radius of the building

2) The middle radius of the building

3) The top radius of the building

4) The top rotation

5) Total Height

6) Number of sides of the building

7) Inter-story height

8) Cost of construction at the bottom of the building

9) Cost of construction at the top of the building

The user can vary any of the listed inputs on the Dynamo Player tool. Based on the inputs given, the model gives the following as outputs:

The outputs will be:

1) Gross Surface Area

2) Gross Volume

3) Ratio of Surface Area by Volume

4) Cost per Insolation

5) Total Cost of Construction

6) Solar Insolation

7) To panelize the building

8) Adjusting the appearance of the panels

The logic behind the model is to optimize the design by considering certain given set of inputs, by using the Generative Design study. The goal is to analyze the design (outputs) by varying certain set of inputs on a scatter plot, and then suggesting the optimum design.

Modeling Steps:

1) The set of variable inputs are chosen:

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2) The base curve, middle curve, and top curve is then implemented.

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3) Based on the curves created, a lofted structure is developed.

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4) Gross Surface Area and Volume are then calculated from the building created.

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5) Floor areas are calculated by passing x-y planes along the height of the building according to the given inter-story height.

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6) Solar inputs are given based on the location.

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7) Solar Insolation is then calculated using the following code.

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8) Some other outputs are calculated accordingly.

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Outputs:

1)

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2) To panelize the wall surfaces

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3) Adjusting the appearance of the panels

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Interface

Various inputs can be adjusted by using the Dynamo Player tool (Named as “Power of the Sun”)

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The outputs are shown after the analysis as:

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The case study is then performed according to the evaluators by using Generative Design tool as:

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The scattered plot obtained as:

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Conclusion:

X-Axis represents the Total Cost of construction and Y-axis represents the total solar insolation. The variation of color and sizes represents here the cost per insolation. As can be seen from the scattered plot that for a given value of cost per insolation, the total solar insolation value increases with total cost of construction. Therefore, there’s a tradeoff between the Total Cost vs. Total Solar Insolation. If we join the plot with same value of cost per insolation, the point where the slope is maximum should be the best option to construct the model.